Thursday, November 22, 2012

My usual walk

My usual walk around the neighborhood is a 1.5 mile loop.  The other day I thought about the people I know or have known who live along my route and how this contributes to my sense of being connected to my community. In the small world category is this house, previously owned by Mr. Schuman,  my late 9th grade government teacher at Eastern Junior High in Greenwich. I particularly remember that class for three reasons:  It was the first time we had a black classmate. Kennedy was assassinated that fall, and we moved to Chicago mid-year.  One of my former high school students lives down the street and an elementary principal with whom I took graduate courses lives across the street.


Just last month I performed a wedding in this house.  As an elected Justice of the Peace, people contact me from time to time to ask about my availability and how much I charge (nothing).  The Thai nanny who works in this home emailed me while I was traveling so I didn't respond.  Shortly after our return she drove down our driveway one morning with her mother who was visiting from Thailand and the little girls she looks after.  How could I say no?  


Someone once told me that this driveway on a street that forms a border between Norwalk and Westport  leads to the lovely home where the jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan lived with the actress Sandy Dennis sometime between 1965 and 1973.


About two years ago a young couple bought this lovely house across the street. Even though Mrs. Donnelly --- the elderly widow who lived there for many years --- had a long driveway, our children always loved to trick or treat there because she was so clearly delighted to welcome them.


Giving thanks 2012



This morning I volunteered to help my friend Marcia at the Rowayton Turkey Trot, a fundraiser for the Rowayton Arts Center.  It was fun standing in the middle of the road in my orange vest, directing the runners where to turn at the intersection of Pennoyer St. and Rowayton Ave.  I didn't notice until the end of my shift that the race organizers had drawn a turkey on the pavement at each intersection.

Besides cheering on the racers, I suggested that what they were calling a hill around the corner was really just an incline. On my way home I passed a group of day laborers at their usual spot near the train station.  Will they get any work today?  Do they know it's Thanksgiving?

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Charlie appreciates good art!


Early this morning 4 year old Charlie called to ask whether we knew James Flora wrote children's books.  Charlie had just borrowed one from his local library and learned that this was the same man whose paintings hang in our home.   Here's a section of the Flora painting in our sun room:


How cool that besides his album covers and paintings Jim Flora also wrote and illustrated children's books including My Friend Charlie and Charlie Yup and his Snip-Snap Boys.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

5 Moose in Maine




Every year the Fabs and Wallersteins go to Portland Maine in August. Every other year we bring the Tretolas with us too. It is so much fun I don't even have a favorite part. The big reason we come here is because of family. We have 2 family members here and one moving here tomorrow. The family members moving here tomorrow are Aaron, Lauren and their new baby  Ellery. We are so excited to see them. The family members living here are Aunt Nancy and Grandma Neetie. 

Friday, June 29, 2012

Doing the Puff & Strut


Yesterday many came together to celebrate a wonderful public art project at the South Norwalk Train Station.  Duvian Montoya, a graduate of Norwalk Public Schools, expressed how meaningful it was to him to have such a prominent installation in his hometown. As is so often the case, public officials did the puff and strut, recognizing themselves and taking credit for a job well done. Those in the know perhaps smiled along with me, remembering the work of mostly unrecognized champions who got the project moving in 2010, back when it was mired in government bureaucracy. But at the end of the day it's all about the talented artists and members of the public who get to enjoy their work.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Paying it forward in Greenwich


I've sometimes had a love-hate relationship with Greenwich.  This year's award ceremony at Hamilton Ave. School was definitely a time to feel the love. Graduating seniors who attended Hamilton Ave. return to be recognized and to speak with 5th graders.  Vito Sperduto, a successful businessman and Harvard graduate, returns every year to pay it forward. He told the students how he arrived at Hamilton Ave. from Italy in the 1970's not speaking much English.  This year he gave a scholarship to Nicole LaPointe-Jameson who will attend Columbia University.  I met Nicole and her proud parents, Noel and Lise, when I served as interim principal at Hamilton Ave. in 2005.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Fathers Day 2012



Dad shows me how to drive Ivy's  tractor.
Stanwood, Washington 1959
Today is our nephew Aaron's first Fathers Day.  We began at the Unitarian Church in Westport where family and friends welcomed our great niece Ellery (Queen of Babies) into the spiritual community.  For the second time this year I crossed paths with Ken, an octogenarian former colleague of our late father.  I remembered something my daughter told me about consequential strangers and realized it was more than chance that brought Ken and me together today.  The church is around the corner from a lovely mill pond where our Dad stayed at the company guest house before the rest of us made the move from Seattle to Connecticut in the 1950's.  It has been a remarkable day with new and old memories thanks to Ken and Ellery.


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Strawberry Picking




Sunday was perfect for our annual visit to Jones Farm to pick strawberries. I've been going there for more than 20 years. This year three Fab kids, Grandma (that's me) and our friend, Jackie, picked two full flats  from our assigned rows in less than an hour!  Pretty good considering Jackie was a first-timer and Charlie is only three.  The first year Sam picked berries he found one that looked like Mickey Mouse.  Now it's a contest to find the most unusual looking berry.  Sam won again.




The real work begins after driving home in a car filled with a luscious aroma that smells nothing like those artificial air fresheners. Ripe berries need immediate attention.  After dividing our spoils I ended up with two quarts of frozen berries (tartes, trifles, smoothies, lemonade, delicious in a glass of prosecco), a quart of strawberry rhubarb sauce (skip the food coloring, yummy on ice cream, yogurt, puddings) and shortcake for dinner.  One of the best parts is reconnecting with the childhood memory of picking berries with Grandma Dora and Grandpa Carl in Stanwood, Washington.


Sunday, April 15, 2012

Billy's Bakery


We tested Billy's Bakery and we thought that it was a great place to get all kind of sweets. It is a great pit stop for an on the road trip. It has cookies, cupcakes, bread, bars and brownies. Posted by: Sam Fabricant.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Carmel Matzoh Crunch



I brought a goody bag of carmel matzoh crunch to Maribeth and she loved it!  Toughest thing about making this annual Passover favorite is deciding whether to use white chocolate along with the dark. Yum!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Pacific House



For about ten years I've helped friends, family and former colleagues prepare and serve dinner to 50-60 men the first Monday of every month at Pacific House.  What started as a community service project has become a labor of love.  I first learned about the shelter at a friend's birthday party and "apprenticed" with a group from a local travel agency. Joe always brings the rolls and  and butter.  Last night he also brought a small watermelon just for Sidney, our favorite staff member.  Rob and his mom brought the cupcakes with sprinkles, offering each guest a choice of vanilla or chocolate.  Little things make all the difference.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Well-being

Thanks, Maggie, for recommending Robert's yoga class. He's terrific and I've really been enjoying stretching, breathing, and everything else. Thinking about wellness reminded me of a scene I captured on film nearly 20 years ago when I spent a month  in Dakar, Senegal. Every evening at dusk, hundreds of people engaged in calisthenics on the beach.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Family




Several months ago I visited my grandchildren in Washington D.C.  Two year old Elle loves books but she also likes family stories. I told her several about my brother, her great uncle Rolf --- looking for money near the flagpole at the beach, playing "Man and Roy" and wrestling with our brother, Andy. When I ran out of new material we called him in New Hampshire. He told us how much he loved playing in a nearby stream, collecting tadpoles and frogs.  We remembered the time one of his frogs escaped in the house and frightened our visiting Great Aunt Alice.  Isn't this photo (circa 1956) of Rolf wonderful?  Thanks to our late father for this special contribution to the stories I tell my grandchildren.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Neighborhood


Having the good fortune to grow up in a wonderful neighborhood is a great way to learn what being part of a community looks and feels like.  We came across this photo (circa 1958) when my brothers and I digitized our family slide collection.  It seems somehow remarkable that after more than 50 years I was able to share this moment in time with three of the nine people captured by our Dad's camera. Joel is the only one who lives in Greenwich and we're the only two still in Connecticut.  Janet and Joel followed in their father's footsteps and became lawyers. Maggi's brother, Lee, served in Viet Nam. Judy and Lee both succumbed to cancer.  While none of us stayed in touch with Ruthie, we learned a lot about her family when a book about her dad was published in 1998: Bombshell:  The Secret Story of America's Unknown Atomic Spy.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Lessons learned

A former colleague found this old photo of me tucked in a book in the Norwalk High language resource center. Lessons I learned when I taught there continue to inform and influence my thoughts and beliefs. Not long ago, a mother was charged with theft of services when she sent her young son to school in Norwalk although she apparently lived elsewhere. 40 years ago, Debby showed up in my freshman homeroom - petite, blond, smart, and sassy. Somewhere along the way I learned she had moved from her father and stepmother's home in Norwalk to her mother's in Bridgeport.  Every day she spent hours traveling back and forth by bus and train to get to school.  With only a few months remaining in her senior year I chose to look the other way. After graduation, Debby continued her studies at a community college and got a good job.  One day I got a call from another former student who told me Debby had been shot by an angry ex-boyfriend. We attended her funeral.  After that I could never work up too much indignation about school residency issues even though I am by nature a rule follower.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind…

In spite of my best efforts to slow down, there are times I can’t help but engage in controversial issues like Connecticut’s Education Cost Sharing (ECS) model. Our local paper has a three-part story on ECS where state legislators on both sides of the aisle hem, haw and rationalize.  I find them windy (not syn. with long-winded; ref. Blowin’ in the Wind). I agree with Wesley Horton (Horton v. Meskill) when he suggests the “hold harmless” provision is a major reason—even with an admittedly flawed formula--- money is not flowing to needier school systems and towns.  Legislators simply do not have the political courage to reduce funding to admittedly wealthier towns and cities. P.s. This is also why state legislative districts should not cross town lines. Someone elected to serve both my small city, Norwalk, and a neighboring wealthy suburb would be hard pressed to speak against "hold harmless" when it could result in the reallocation of state funding from one town to the other.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Idiomatiques

My friend Dre is incredibly talented. She sings, composes, teaches, records children's music, and runs JAM. Jam? According to her website, take your pick:  junior art & music; a sweet spread; a fruity medley of taste & texture; to play in a freely improved, swinging way; to head as nearly possible into the wind; to slam dunk. At a recent open house I learned she also has eyes in the back of her head! I suspect this is helpful parenting along with everything else she does.  My grandchildren love Goggles  from the album Sugar on Top.

Civility

Our 3rd community conversation about civility is Thursday evening.  I've found that when civility is on your mind you begin to see it everywhere, even on vacation in Arizona.  I wasn't surprised to read in the local newspaper about Sandra Day O'Connor's involvement but the sign in the outdoor mall made me realize how much people apparently need to be reminded about what it means to behave appropriately in public.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Let's talk!

Closed for the season but I kept this picture as a reminder that the Westport Winter Farmer's Market is the best!  It's indoors at nearby Gilbertie's Herb Farm, with great products sold by friendly vendors, an outstanding pizza truck, welcoming tables in the center of the greenhouse, and signs like this to remind us of the importance of face-to-face interactions in our fast-paced, technology-enabled lives.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Tomato soup

I heard the tomato soup story many times from my dad, Grandma Dora, and Great Aunt Agnes.  One year, probably in the 1930’s when dad was five or six years old, his mother asked him if he would like to help pick out a Christmas present for Aunt Agnes.  Dad thought a few minutes and said,  “I know exactly what she wants----Campbell’s tomato soup----it’s her favorite!”  Grandma Dora chuckled (she had the sweetest smile and twinkly eyes) and said, “Stan, that’s an excellent idea, let’s go to the store.”  They bought several cans, sent them off lovingly wrapped to Aunt Agnes who lived in the San Francisco Bay area.  When Aunt Agnes opened the gift from her beloved nephew, she smiled and said, “This is the best gift ever!”